It's such a shame we didn't get to see at least one more set, the match was getting so exciting and entertaining!

At least we were able to witness the epic Zhu Ting vs Bošković battle for a while and it was such fun There must be a reason why Tijana was used so sporadically in the first two sets and I hope everything is alright with her.

It should also be noted that Rašić raised her level a lot as the match went on after a rather shaky start. She's a player that brings so much energy into her team when things are going well for her.

Another issue for ECZ besides their issues with the libero is that Beyza and Busra are just not good enough to make an impact against Vakifbank's block, which is absolute top notch and probably the best in the world.

It's such a shame we didn't get to see at least one more set, the match was getting so exciting and entertaining!

At least we were able to witness the epic Zhu Ting vs Bošković battle for a while and it was such fun There must be a reason why Tijana was used so sporadically in the first two sets and I hope everything is alright with her.

It should also be noted that Rašić raised her level a lot as the match went on after a rather shaky start. She's a player that brings so much energy into her team when things are going well for her.

Another issue for ECZ besides their issues with the libero is that Beyza and Busra are just not good enough to make an impact against Vakifbank's block, which is absolute top notch and probably the best in the world.

Of course Rasic is really important for Vakif.. even is she's not scoring as she used to (for whatever reason) she stills blocked great, and made some serving streaks...

In a typical game Larson would never receive only 2 balls, but I think it was Motta strategy to make her play as mostly non-receiving and let her take more sets, the only reason he would do that is because Boskovic is not 100%. Otherwise Boskovic would be getting a lot more sets.

It didnt work well for this match Simge didnt seem to be that kind of libero who can deal with passing with two players
Also Larson was not good offensively in first two sets

Of course Rasic is really important for Vakif.. even is she's not scoring as she used to (for whatever reason) she stills blocked great, and made some serving streaks...

I'm wondering if maybe she's done too much physical damage to her body over the last year. She had not just one, but two rather serious injuries and both times she rushed into coming back without letting them heal properly. It's bound to leave a mark and I think she's still feeling the consequences, you can see that sometimes her take-off is not as explosive as it used to be.
But I hope it's going to get better, after all, there are quite a bit of matches in the Turkish league she doesn't need to play full time and focus on getting her fitness back.

Of course Rasic is really important for Vakif.. even is she's not scoring as she used to (for whatever reason) she stills blocked great, and made some serving streaks...

I'm wondering if maybe she's done too much physical damage to her body over the last year. She had not just one, but two rather serious injuries and both times she rushed into coming back without letting them heal properly. It's bound to leave a mark and I think she's still feeling the consequences, you can see that sometimes her take-off is not as explosive as it used to be.
But I hope it's going to get better, after all, there are quite a bit of matches in the Turkish league she doesn't need to play full time and focus on getting her fitness back.

Yes, and I have talked about this before. Last season when she got injured she came right after and played the CL Final 4. She should have not done that, she even had to play with something on her leg. And then right after she played at the Club Championship. And then she gets hurt again prior the ECH and still decides to play ( she only played a little against Belgium, but still, she could have been at home recovering.)

This could be either her choice or Vakifibank makes her play....I would never think a club would want a player to play while injured, but just look what Vitra did to Thaisa, they even lied to her in order to make her play.

Another thing, Guidetti seams to be trying to break Sloetjes by replacing her, even when she`s playing so well like tonight. And he gives up so easily on her like tonight they are leading 2-0 and only down 16-13 but he goes ahead and takes her out.

Of course he won`t take Zhu out, but is not fair with Sloetjes to get replaced when she`s playing well, and this has been affecting her performances lately, he started doing this last season once Zhu came. But if he was still the Dutch coach I doubt he would be doing this to her.
And if the Dutch is on his way to Tokyo, I guess he sees this as the right opportunity to break down their best player.

And Sloetjes does not seams happy and energetic as she used to be, does not seams like she`s having fun. I get the same feeling from Rasic. Maybe after a couple of season together they are getting a little bored with each other.

My thought on the drop in Raşiç's performance is that She has been playing for Vakıfbank for a long time and She feels being satisfied with volleyball and Vakıf she should take some break then come back stronger
I feel the same for Gözde though she keeps her desire to play yet wants to retire so early

I wonder how many female members are here in this forum. It would be great to have a perspective especially from a female athlete or sportswoman why they do this and do that. It's not always the case but I feel women are more family-oriented. It would be a great discussion to have. That would be very enlightening especially to volleyball fans.

Another thing, Guidetti seams to be trying to break Sloetjes by replacing her, even when she`s playing so well like tonight. And he gives up so easily on her like tonight they are leading 2-0 and only down 16-13 but he goes ahead and takes her out.

Of course he won`t take Zhu out, but is not fair with Sloetjes to get replaced when she`s playing well, and this has been affecting her performances lately, he started doing this last season once Zhu came. But if he was still the Dutch coach I doubt he would be doing this to her.
And if the Dutch is on his way to Tokyo, I guess he sees this as the right opportunity to break down their best player.

And Sloetjes does not seams happy and energetic as she used to be, does not seams like she`s having fun. I get the same feeling from Rasic. Maybe after a couple of season together they are getting a little bored with each other.

I don't agree at all.. you're speaking of Guidetti as if he's Sloetjes biggest enemy.. first of all, Sloethes hasn't been as good as her first season with Vakifbank.. second, now they have Zhu who is their main offensive weapon, and is better than Sloetjes in attack.. that being sad it's logical to take Sloethes out and have Kelsey pass for her, leaving Zhu to concentrate only on attack.. having Buijs-Gozde-Sloetjes is much different than Zhu-Gozde-Sloetjes.. in the first combination Loonenke is the most reliable scorer, and that's not the case with the latter.. Also Sloetjes has been replaced by Hill in the past, while Guidetti was still their coach, so I don't think him not coaching Netherlans anymore has to do with any of this..

I'm hoping we see Imoco vs Vakif in the CL championship. It will be interesting to see if Zhu can carry the day by herself against a solid blocking team. Imoco with Robin, Dinesi, and Foli provide a formidable wall when all the balls are going to only one person. Even Hill recently had 4 blocks. Everyone on Imoco has solid blocking skills. Plus they have a varied attack with Hill, Bricio, and Fabris. This may be the year Italy takes back the CL crown.

Another thing, Guidetti seams to be trying to break Sloetjes by replacing her, even when she`s playing so well like tonight. And he gives up so easily on her like tonight they are leading 2-0 and only down 16-13 but he goes ahead and takes her out.

Of course he won`t take Zhu out, but is not fair with Sloetjes to get replaced when she`s playing well, and this has been affecting her performances lately, he started doing this last season once Zhu came. But if he was still the Dutch coach I doubt he would be doing this to her.
And if the Dutch is on his way to Tokyo, I guess he sees this as the right opportunity to break down their best player.

And Sloetjes does not seams happy and energetic as she used to be, does not seams like she`s having fun. I get the same feeling from Rasic. Maybe after a couple of season together they are getting a little bored with each other.

I don't agree at all.. you're speaking of Guidetti as if he's Sloetjes biggest enemy.. first of all, Sloethes hasn't been as good as her first season with Vakifbank.. second, now they have Zhu who is their main offensive weapon, and is better than Sloetjes in attack.. that being sad it's logical to take Sloethes out and have Kelsey pass for her, leaving Zhu to concentrate only on attack.. having Buijs-Gozde-Sloetjes is much different than Zhu-Gozde-Sloetjes.. in the first combination Loonenke is the most reliable scorer, and that's not the case with the latter.. Also Sloetjes has been replaced by Hill in the past, while Guidetti was still their coach, so I don't think him not coaching Netherlans anymore has to do with any of this..

Everything you said is true, and there`s no doubt Zhu is better attacker than Sloetjes. But I`m not really saying he should take Zhu out. Of course not, u cant take the best player out.
But If I remember right last season he did replace Zhu a few times, and even used to bring Cansu in to pass, I could be wrong but I think he even replaced Zhu in the CL semi-final at some point ( of course they were winning so it did not matter much), but he still did.

And in that CL final against Pomi, Sloetjes was not playing well, but Guidetti only replaced her with Sheilla late in the 2nd set, but he could have replaced her way earlier. Sheilla was not having a good season, but still when she came in she almost helped them turn things around. And Sheila is Sheila, is not like he had some average back up. But he wanted to keep Sloetjes in as much as he could.

But look today. they are leading 2-0 and down by 16-13, in a much less worth tournament, and everyone was playing well, even if they were to loose that set, is not a big deal, , and Vakifbank could still have turned that set around with Sloetjes in. And only paid off taking her out because Motta took Boskovic and Maja out as well. Otherwise they probably would have lost that set.

And I totally get your point about "Buijs-Gozde-Sloetjes is much different than Zhu-Gozde-Sloetjes". But if Zhu-Godze-Sloetjes is his starting line=up, and they played great for 2 1/2 sets....he should just let them fight together when they are just 3 points behind in the 3rd.

3 points behind is not a big deal, u can still win the set.

but now, if u ask me, if he was still the Dutch coach would have he replaced Sloetjes??? My answer is NO>>> and it is not just the game....it happened last season also, and is happening this season, and will happen more often. But if u still ask me if he was still Dutch coach, would he keep replacing her?? My answer is still NO.

I'm hoping we see Imoco vs Vakif in the CL championship. It will be interesting to see if Zhu can carry the day by herself against a solid blocking team. Imoco with Robin, Dinesi, and Foli provide a formidable wall when all the balls are going to only one person. Even Hill recently had 4 blocks. Everyone on Imoco has solid blocking skills. Plus they have a varied attack with Hill, Bricio, and Fabris. This may be the year Italy takes back the CL crown.

They are a great blocking team, but look the players in the mid=weak level teams in Italy. With all the respect, but none of them are near close to be world class players.
If you think Conegliano will have the same block party they are having in Italy against the Turkish teams, especially against Vakifibank...well we gotta wait and see but I don`t think that will happen.

I could be wrong, but I feel Guidetti is torn between bringing his national players up to the international level and his volleyball club interests. I can see that he's struggling between giving more play times to his national players and keeping the vakifbank team cohesion intact at the same time. We can see that he's trying to replace Rasic with ZEHRA GUNES in many occasions. If ZEHRA can reach a satisfactory and constant blocking and defensive level, probably it will be Rasic last season with Vakifbank. It's sad, because I really like to watch Gozde, Rasic, Sloetjes and Zhu playing together.

I also put a picture of Zhu Ting in my Avatar and I put Zhu Ting's name in my Signature. Are you going to ban me as well? And what about those who have their favorite player and their favorite team in their avatar and in their signature ?? Are you going to apply the same "standard" to everyone???

This post has been edited 2 times, last edit by "ST2008" (Dec 24th 2017, 9:17pm)

It's the coach's winning formula. Taking Zhu out last season didn't work well. This season just let someone else receive for Zhu and maximize offense. So far won 2 Turkish league trophies compared to none last year.

Another thing, Guidetti seams to be trying to break Sloetjes by replacing her, even when she`s playing so well like tonight. And he gives up so easily on her like tonight they are leading 2-0 and only down 16-13 but he goes ahead and takes her out.

Of course he won`t take Zhu out, but is not fair with Sloetjes to get replaced when she`s playing well, and this has been affecting her performances lately, he started doing this last season once Zhu came. But if he was still the Dutch coach I doubt he would be doing this to her.
And if the Dutch is on his way to Tokyo, I guess he sees this as the right opportunity to break down their best player.

And Sloetjes does not seams happy and energetic as she used to be, does not seams like she`s having fun. I get the same feeling from Rasic. Maybe after a couple of season together they are getting a little bored with each other.

I'm hoping we see Imoco vs Vakif in the CL championship. It will be interesting to see if Zhu can carry the day by herself against a solid blocking team. Imoco with Robin, Dinesi, and Foli provide a formidable wall when all the balls are going to only one person. Even Hill recently had 4 blocks. Everyone on Imoco has solid blocking skills. Plus they have a varied attack with Hill, Bricio, and Fabris. This may be the year Italy takes back the CL crown.

Well, let us see whether can imoco volley beat fenerbache in the champions league first, in January. If vakifbank plays the same level as today's match. No one else can stop them in the champions league!!

This post has been edited 1 times, last edit by "leo2017" (Dec 25th 2017, 4:39am)

Zhuting is the girl version of leon wilfredo!!!He is also amazing at spiking!! If one can kill any kind of ball at any situation, no one else wants to play volleyball with them!
It just simplifies volleyball to the god level, if one can sore regurlarly at serving line! can Leon wilfredo do that?

This post has been edited 1 times, last edit by "leo2017" (Dec 25th 2017, 7:52am)